Can you hear like a teenager?

Take a listen to this audio clip. Be Careful, the sound (if you can hear like a teenager) is loud and annoying (it’s not called a mosquito ringtone for nothing). You may want to turn down your computer speakers and turn up gradually to test a comfortable sound level.

As we age, the little hairs in our inner ear lose some of their function and we begin to lose our hearing in the very high frequency ranges. Tones like the one above are sometimes used by teens for their cell phone ring tones so their teachers can’t hear their phone ringing in class (where cell phones are usually banned). The teacher, who is likely older than 25, has some degree of hearing loss and is oblivious to the ring.

Another ingenious use of this concept comes in a $1500 package called the “Mosquito”, which is an anti-teen loitering device. The device is placed wherever teen loitering is unwanted, with the idea being that teens will find it so annoying that they’ll go somewhere else. Adults, on the other hand are not bothered by the tone because they can’t hear it.

In any case, if you can’t hear the tone, don’t feel bad – it just means you’re getting wiser.

I’m 15.. i think i can hear it.. though i turned my volume all the way up and am wearing headphones and its not very loud or annoying. Though i do have a problem with volume.. like on my tv i have to have it up past 40 to understand anything that is being said on the screen, and i cant really understand someone on the phone without asking them to repeat themselves like 2-5 times. Same thing when i’m with a group of people talking, or in the car haha… not sure if thats bad or not though lol 🙂

“In any case, if you can’t hear the tone, don’t feel bad it just means you’re getting wiser.” So you think people get wiser when they age? It’s as true as saying people get more retarded with age. BTW I’m 32 and I can hear that sound. Bad luck for those morons who wants to sell devices to annoy teenagers (what a retarded idea anyway).

I have always heard higher frequencies than most other people, when I was 16 I was tested and could hear above 22kHz. I can still hear “silent” dog whistles, flourescent lighting and the “whine” of CRT TVs.

I can’t go near McDonalds in UK cause they all have these stupid “anti loitering” devices outside the front doors – I have to plug my ears and run past. It’s not just the high frequency that is annoying – but that it’s so LOUD. It’s incredibly painful, even with my ears plugged the sound comes through the bones in my skull… It’s disgusting that these devices are legal and they should be banned. I’d rather walk past a bunch of unruly teenagers than that god-awful sound.

Today there was a shop near my workplace that was testing one of these Anti loitering devices; the sound was earsplitting and I had to go outside and tell them to turn the damn thing off. If they end up using it on a daily basis I swear to god I’m going to walk in there with a klaxon until they get rid of it…

That’s below 17 kHz because I can hear it. I’m only 25, but I f*cked up my hearing good. Until last July I could hear everything up to and exceeding 19 kHz. I used to be appalled at the very young people blasting their ears on Ipods. No I’m appalled at the way I treated my own ears. My TV doesn’t just suck. It F*****G sucks. I’m too poor (and stupid) to afford something better. However, I stopped caring about my life and decided to become a full time gamer–I used to average reading a couple books a month aside from school, but now I’m down to a couple of books a year. I plugged my headphones into my TV to play countless hours of video games (something I never did till last July). No one needed to tell me about the risks. I would advise any young people to avoid headphone use unless they have a good reason to use them and they can control the magnitude and frequency of the sound very precisely. It’s a bitter experience to be the sole cause of your own hearing loss.

I’m 38 and I can hear this clip (not loudly, but I definitely can hear it). Yet when doing the other test with the 8 – 22 kHz frequencies, I couldn’t hear a definite beep about 15 kHz. The higher frequencies made some noise, but I can’t discern if it’s just the audio player or if it’s actually the test sound that is barely audible to me. I tested it further with headphones, and 16 – 21 kHz all sounded to me like it’s just the audio player, but then 22 kHz somehow sounds more silent, making me even more confused about whether the slight noise of the 16 to 21 kHz tests are actually just the audio player, or whether I am somehow hearing something of the test sound.

On another note, I find the idea of anti-teen loitering devices ethically disturbing. Not because I worry about the teens; they can hear the noise and walk away from it (which is obviously the point). But I suspect that adults or people with poor hearing would inadvertently be subjected to undesirable side effects from these devices, such as headaches. As many have pointed out, even if you can’t hear a noise doesn’t mean your body can’t sense it in some way, shape, or form. It’s like subliminal noise pollution that is probably harmful to our health.

I’m 50 and I cant hear it.
There is a woman at my work that complains of hearing a high pitched noise from the florescent lights above her. It is driving her crazy. I feel fine with my hearing loss, while this irritates her I don’t know what I am missing

I gotta say it, for someone who listens to heavy metal trough earphones at the loudest volume possible most of my life, (28 btw) I’m very surprised that I could hear that, yet I have trouble with low frequency sounds, often asking people to repeat themselves.

Everyone needs to understand that even though you’re above the age of 25 and you can still hear it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It simply means you have exquisite hearing; in fact, consider it a compliment. Some are gifted with excellent hearing their whole life, regardless of how much they’ve gone through.

I bet this high frequency noise damages my hearing. I can only hear up to 19 khz and I am a young adult, however when I go to 20 khz I hear broken noise and silence, sounds like an error with the recording.

I can hear the high, piercing tone, depending on how my head is oriented toward the speakers, but I also hear a lower (still high, but not piercing) tone when my head is turned so that I don’t hear the higher tone well. Odd effect of my environment?

IMO if you have crappy computer speakers you might not hear it, though no one here seems to have had a problem. I have tinnitus in both my ears and it is very annoying — it sounds like a high pitched squeal, but even through it I could hear the tone. I suspect I can hear hire considering the quality of my equipment. Most of my family is deaf. Here is to enjoying your hearing as long as you possibly can. 🙂

AND I BELIEVE THIS: It is never too early to make sure you protect your hearing. Consider ear plugs, plugging your ears when you expect loud sounds (i.e. CC Philadelphia ;))

most consumer grade audio equipment (both the audio card in your computer and the speakers attached to it) are only capable of producing tones up to 20khz (if your lucky and even then often at -6dB, 1/4 loudness of lower frequencies) reasonably flat response to 16khz is more likely.

however your point is valid, i’ve done this test in a lab with a function generator, an amplifier with +-1db response to 25khz and monitors(speakers) rated to the same.

The 60+ year olds in the office could not hear much beyond 13khz.

The younger of the group (i’m 25) could hear to 20khz or higher.

As with low frequencies very high frequencies can be felt as much as they are heard, quite often ~20khz + can be felt in the jaw bone area assuming a reasonable SPL.

I cant so much hear it as sense something uncomfortable. I tried it with my son playing the sound and my eyes closed just to make sure I wasn’t fooling myself.I definately sense something there but I cant hear a thing lol.I’m 48

I guess I have better hearing than I thought. I can hear this one, and I just turned 36. I’ve worked in very noisy places, wearing a walkman (and now an MP3 player) for 8 hours a day, for the past 10 years. Also didn’t have a problem with the other tones untill I hit 21Khz.

I’m a couple months shy of 38 and I can hear that plain as day. For the most part I’ve tried to take good care of my hearing for the past 15 years or more but it’s not as good as it used to be. When I was a teenager I had no problem at all hearing the 19 khz carrier frequency of some FM stations. I could even hear the high frequency “whine” when somebody turned on a TV in another room, even with the door closed.

I worked in a noisy factory for 9 1/2 years, used to ride sportbikes, still attend NHRA drag races, and shoot guns, and I think I’ve done pretty well compared to most people my age. I’ve spent a good chunk of money on higher-end audio equipment and I want to be able to enjoy it for many years to come.